Stopping device for card-feeding machines



Sept. 30, 1930. s. c. BARTHOLOMEW A 1,776,823

I STOPPING DEVICE FOR CARD FEEDI NG MACHINES Filed March 27, 1926 ll l 26 0 li a Ii E 4 4 3 I "'1'. I z I l I I .1 1a 5 n L '25 arr: ii 5 1% I d 5 27 t Patented Sept. 30, 1930 UNITED STATES;

'scoTT c. BARrnoLoMnw, or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE PATENT OFFICE ASSIGNMENTS, T REIVIINGTONRAND ING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE STOPPING DEVICE FOR CARD-FEEDING MACHINES Ap c'am fiieanar her, 1926. Serial no. 97,920.

The present invention relates to statistical machines operated byperforated cards and more particularly to a device for automatically stopping a machine when a card fails to feed in the proper manner.

In the operation of card sorting machines or other machines wherein a succession of cards are fed along a common path of travel, it frequentlyhappens. that a card stic ks on account of a bent edge or corner or for some other reason fails to feed properly and as a result a dozen or more cards oftenpilfeup before it is possibleto manually stop thema; chine. The cards thus caught by the failure of one card to feed are so bent and damaged that they cannot be used again and new cards must be punched to replace them, all of which causes aconsiderable loss of time and a corresponding lessening of the. output.

Some of the objects of thepresent invention are to provide a meansfor automatically stopping a cardfeedingmechanism in casea card sticks or otherwise fails'to feed proper 1y; to provide a device whereby the damaging of cards through a failure to feed prop: erly through a sorting machine or other 'sta tistical machine is reduced to a minimum; to provide a means foreliminating loss of time caused by cards damaged in'the feeding mechanismyto provide a device for more nearly approximating a constant card output than has heretofore been possible; andto provide other improvements aswi1l hereinafter appear.

elevation, broken away, of one form of automaticstopping control'inechanism; Fig; 3

In the accompanying drawings Fig.1 represents a schematic elevationof a card feeding mechanismequipped with onefo'rm of the present invention; Fig. 2 represents a front represents a section" on line 3+3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4: represents asecti'on on line 4+4 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 represents a detail in perspective of the circuit closing devices and associated parts.

Referring to the drawings, one form'ofthe present invention ijs shown in Fig.1 asapplied to the card feedingmechanism offasorting machine, though the inventionisnotspe cifically so limited, and the card magazine is diagrammatically illustrated to deliver a succession of cards to an analyzing unit 11 from which each card'entersa path of travel formed by pairs of rollers 12 and 13 in order to be fed to the respective receptacles which are to receive the cards. In this type of'machine shutters 14 are located adjacent the pairs of feed rollers and in such aposition that any shutter selected by a card will be antomatically thrown intothe path of that card and deflect it into the receptacle predetermined by a card perforation. In the present instance, thesorting machine is operated electrically and the control for stopping it is in-1 terposed in the circuit of the operating motor at a break in the conducting wires 15. As here shown the conducting wires 15ers respectively connected to binding posts 16 which are supported by a strip of insulation 17 and terminate in contact heads 18 at the 013- 'posite side of a plate 20 upon which the in sulation strip 17 is supported. These contact heads 18 are respectively arranged to be engaged by faces 2 10f two interconnected spring contactors 22 laterally proj ectingfrom a strip of insulation This strip is carri ed by a pin 24 which is axially slidable in the walls of the casing 25 and also may have a limited rotarymotion. Ahand knob 26011 the. one projecting end of the pin 2 1 allows the latter to be reset so that the contactors 22 are in contactwith the contactslS inorder to supply current to the motor of the-machine to which the device is appliedf The aforesaidrotary movement of thepin 24: is limited by the position of a guideblocl: 29 arrangediin the path of the insulating strip in'galso as a guide for the latter. y

F or the purpose of shifting the" 13111124 axiallywith an accompanying turning move,- ment, it is provided with an arm 27 which projects laterally from the pin andhas its free end connectedto a coil spring28, the

other end of which isconnected to a fixed eye 30 so located as to maintainthe spring 28 under tension and exerting an upward and lat The arm 27 is V eral 'pulliupon the arm 27, formed on a. plate which ove rliesan d supports the strip of insulation 23, and is secured to the pin 24 by screws. Thus when the pin2 l is 23 and serv free to move the spring 28 will swing the arm 27 in a direction to rotate the pin 24- and simultaneously lift the pin a suflicient distance to remove the contactors 22 from the contacts 18. This tension of the spring 28 also serves to hold the contactors 22 against the contacts 18 with good contactpr'essure when the circuit of the motor is to be maintain-ed closed. I

Asa means for holdingthe. pin 2% in its circuit closing position, it is provided with a lug or catch 31 which is positioned to be engaged by a hook latch 32 which is suitably pivoted at 33to a part to the rear wall of the casing and provided with a hearing for the pin 24', while a coil spring 34: is stretched between a fixed pin 35 and the opposite end'of the latch 32 so that the latch normally tends to swing over the catch 81 and thus hold the pin 24 against movement. 7 The latchj 32 is normally positioned to hold the pin 2 iclosing the operatingcircuit and the release of this latch is'arranged'to be elfected by the failure of a card or cards to properly feed along their path of travel.

projecting end of the latch 32 and is locatedparallel to the path of travel of the cards and extends through all of the pairs of feed rolls 12 and 13'where its outer end joins a tension device. In the present instance this device consists of a threaded pin 38 traversing a slot 40 in a fixed bracket 41 and has a thumb nut 42 abutting the outer face of the bracket 41; In thisway the wire; 36 is maintained under proper tension, stretched; in close proximity to the upper sides of the cards, so that any deflection of a card as it passes along beneath the wire36 is constantly transmitted to the wire 36 and the movement thereof under such deflection is sufiicient to exert the necessary. pull to release the latch 32 from the catch ill and thus place the pin24 under control of the spring 28. \Vhen this occurs, the tension of the spring 28 swings the arm 27 laterally and upward so that the contactors 22 are moved from the contacts 18 and the circuit of the motor which is driving the sorting machine is broken and the latter immediately stops.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that a com 'aleteunitary ston mechanism has been provided which is sensitive to any variation of a card or cards from the proper path of travel to cause a misfeed or clogging ofthe feeding mechanism, and which acts in a positive manner to stop the feed before damage is done to the cards. This construc; tion not only prevents mutilationfof cards during the sorting or other operation but in- Having thus described my invention, I claim: 7

1. In a machine of the character stated, the combination of a mechanism for feeding cards successively along a common path, a control for said mechanism, and means, including a wire stretched along said path to be engaged by a card distorted from said path, for stopping said feeding mechanism.

2. 111 a machine of the character stated, the combination of a mechanism for feeding cards successively along a common path, electric means for operating said mechanism, a switch for controlling said electric means, means normally holding said switch to close the circuit to said electric means, and means actuated by a card distorted from said path for opening'said' switch to stop said feeding mechanism 3. In machine of the character stated, the combination of a mechanism for feeding cards successively along a common path, meansincluding an electric circuit for controlling said feeding mechanism, a switch in said circuit, means including a spring latch for lockingsaid switch to close said circuit, and a wire stretched along said path and connected toisaicl latch, whereby a card distorted from said path moves said wire to releasesaid latch;

.4. In a machine of the character stated, the combination of a mechanism for feeding cards successively along a common pat-h,

means including an electric circuit for controlling said feeding mechanism, a contact forming one terminal of said circuit, a contactor forming another terminal of said cir-, cuit, a spring actuated pin mounting said c o'ntactor, a latch for locking said pin. in position to press said contactor against said contact, and means stretched along said card path and connected to said latch to release said pin by the action of a card distorted out of said path. 5. The combination with means for feeding cards along a common path to. a plurality of card receptacles, of means adapted to be operated by acard deflected at any point in said path for stopping feeding of said cards. 6. Th,e combination with means for feeding cards to a plurality of receptacles, of means extending along said path and adapted to be operated by cards deflected at any point of their travel to any receptacle for stopping feeding of saidcards.

7.: The combination with means for feeding cards to a plurality of receptacles, of commonmeans a'ctuableby any card at any point of its travel to any receptacle for stopping feeding of the cards.

Signed at Pittsburgh, county of Allegheny, State: of Pennsylvania, this 11 day ofMarc'h, 1926. 7' j c SCOTT C. BARTHOLOMEW.

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